Make The Most Of A Layoff: Maximize Your Severance Package

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Ethan EvansEx-Amazon VP, Leadership Coach
Make The Most Of A Layoff: Maximize Your Severance Package poster
Total time: 25 minutes
Course Overview

You are being laid off, getting fired, or just want to move on - learn how to get the best package as a part of your transition out of your company.

In this course, Ethan covers topics including the law, termination circumstances, why you should never accept on the spot, how to prepare your case, the mind of the manager, common asks and gives, and if you can sue.

You will get ~25 minutes of concise content. A job termination, either a Reduction In Force (RIF) or layoff, can be an extremely stressful time. This class is about exactly what to do if you think this is coming or if it just happened to you.

Spending an extra few minutes learning what to do (and what not to do) can enormously impact you, financially and otherwise.

Course outline:

  • The Law
  • Termination Circumstances
  • Never Accept on the Spot
  • Preparing Your Case
  • The Mind of the Manager
  • Common Asks and Gives
  • Can You Sue?
  • Summary
Meet Ethan Evans

Ethan Evans is a retired Amazon Vice President, now sharing his leadership expertise.

Starting at Amazon as a Senior Manager, then Director, then Vice President, Ethan has had decades of experience in the skill of managing up. In this course, he shares his extensive experience with layoffs: both being laid off, and also the person conducting layoffs.

Ethan spent 12 years in startups (10 in leadership roles) and then had a 15 year career at Amazon. He has led global teams of 800+ and products with annual revenue above $500M. He holds over 70 patents. More about Ethans:

  • Reviewed 10,000+ resumes, conducted 2,500+ interviews, and 1,000+ hires.
  • Was an Amazon Bar Raiser and Bar Raiser Core Leader, responsible for training and maintaining Amazon's group of interview outcome facilitators.
  • Helped advocate for and draft the Amazon Leadership Principle (LP) "Ownership" — the words "They never say ‘that’s not my job." are Ethan's.

These career growth courses are developed from his own knowledge and input from his extensive network of fellow coaches and executives. (See Rahul's interview with Ethan about the top 1% of engineers.)


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Senior DevOps EngineerAssetMark

Wish I had known this when I was let go in 2019. I was pushed/threatened to accept the offer and they played the "generosity" card.

Thanks for this Ethan!

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AnonLaid off tech worker

Thanks for putting this course together, Ethan. Very helpful!

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Principal Engineer (L7-8)Prima Donna Consulting

Short and sweet. A good round up of places to start to make sure you're not walking away from easy wins.

Nice one Ethan!

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Anxious AnonReceived termination notice

Many thanks Ethan, really helpful, now the cards are in my hand, let's see what I can get out of there. Thanks again.

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Mid-Level EngineerEngineer at Microsoft

I found it incredibly valuable to understand the company's priorities during a layoff. They want to minimize the likelihood of any lawsuits or negative publicity.

This insight is key to maximizing a severance package.

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Staff Software EngineerSS

Good information but I am not sure how much of this is applicable in India and what can an individual do when the company doesn't accept to any asks (I know the worst answer is no)

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Software EngineerSeries A Startup

Direct and concisely presented info :) This helped me to know how to prepare if I get laid off.

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